SoCo Guides and Royal Gorge Anglers

I am proud to announce that I will be joining the guide staff of SoCo Guides, of Royal Gorge Anglers, based in Canon City, Co .  I am available to accept trips for the Arkansas River in Bighorn Sheep Canyon, outside of Canon City.  I will only be available to do wade trips and my days are limited to weekends, unless I know ahead of time the date of the trip and I can do weekdays.  

I love fishing the Arkansas River and feel it has a lot to offer any angler, beginner to advanced.  I'd like to invite you to book a trip using the button below as this will send you directly to the Flybook, a tool used to book trips.  

I will also continue my relationship with Anglers Covey Fly Shop in Colorado Springs guiding on the South Platte River through them.  

Wherever river you choose, I'd love to spend some time on the water sharing what I have learned and fooling some beautiful fish in a beautiful part of the world.  

Tight lines,

Juan

Arkansas River BWO

Arkansas River Brown

For more info on the Arkansas click here:  

http://www.royalgorgeanglers.com/arkansas-river-guided-fishing-trips

Colorado Wanderings

When Ben first contacted me about coming to Colorado, I jumped on the opportunity to take him to one of my favorite areas of the Arkansas River.  While we could have gone anywhere on the South Platte drainage and had a good time, especially the Dream Stream section for lake run fish, that wasn't the "Colorado" I wanted him to see.  The Arkansas in Bighorn Sheep Canyon is usually deserted for the most part, as most people stay on the various sections of the S. Platte.  That is ok with me as there are plenty of fish and bugs waking up on the river.  As we arrived, I explained our plan of the day, to fish a lower section of the river then move to another stretch later in the afternoon for a possible BWO hatch.  Our first stop was well worth it and if we only fished that section and left, the day would have been a success.  But, on we went for more.   The clouds rolled in and with them, came the emerging nymphs.  The Browns and Rainbows switched from stoneflies and caddis in the early morning to BWO nymphs in the afternoon.  A switch to a #20 Mercury RS2 was just what they wanted.  As the wind screamed down the canyon, so did a few adult BWOs.  We saw a few adults on the water and a few fish rose to them.  I couldn't resist.  I had to tie on a CDC Dun.  It worked.  They ate it without hesitation.    It was good.  It was fun and it was what I hoped Ben would be able to enjoy and remember.  We didn't see another person around us all day long and that is what I was hoping for.  I think Ben will be doing a little research on where he wants to fish next time he gets back to Colorado.  Maybe next time, we will go chase some of those hogs on the Dream Stream.

Ben's First few drifts

Resulted in a nice little brown.  Not a bad start.

Working the back channel.

Caddis and stoneflies were on the menu for the morning. 

As the clouds rolled in and the skies grew darker, the fish switched to BWO nymphs and emergers.

Lots of bugs were drifting downstream.  Match the naturals! 

See, I told you, Mercury RS2!  

Arizona Prince Nymph

More on the Mercury RS2

BWOs

Can you guess what I was up to today?  And can you guess what the bug and fly of choice was today?  

More to follow about my day spent with Ben @Arizona Wanderings on the Arkansas River.

Moving on Up.........

My buddies over at Royal Gorge Anglers are relocating their fly shop in Canon City and I wanted all of you to know about this.  They are having a Grand Opening on this Sunday, March 18th.  If you are in the area, take the day and travel down to Canon City and see what is going on.  I will not be there, but I was invited to do a tying demo but I had to pass.  I sure wish I could spend the day there, but I will be fishing with Ben Smith.  Ben is the blogger at Arizona Wanderings.  He and I will be fishing somewhere in the area and we hope to be able to say hi to Taylor, Bill and the crew if we get the chance.
Good gob RGA!  Check out more here to see all the events and specials lined up.

Click here for more info

Ghillies Fly Shop Tying Demo 03/10/12

I will be at Ghillies Fly Shop this Saturday from 10-12pm, sharing a few patterns that I enjoy fishing on the area waters. I will have all my fly boxes there so you can peek to see what is inside them.  Although this will be a tying demo, I will also share how and where I like to fish these patterns.  So stop by and cheek it out if you are in the area.  I'd sure like to see some new faces as well as old friends.

Upcoming Events

First of all, it's been crazy these last several weeks.  I am running at 120MPH and getting tired.  Why?  Well, there are a few things coming up that I have been working on.

First, on Friday night 03/02/12, I will have a tying class at Ghillies Fly Shop covering the BWO Lifecycle.  We will discuss and tie several patterns to make sure you have what you need when the hatch starts.  This will be from 6:30-8:30 pm.  Call the shop to sign-up.

On Saturday March 3rd, The Colorado Springs FLy Fishing Show is at Anglers Covey starting at 9:00am.  I will be at the  tying bench at 9am, so stop by and say hi.  There will be a lot going on through the day and there will be some really good deals that day.  Stop by and check it out.

On Saturday, March 10th, I will be back at Ghillies for a tying demo sharing some of my favorite patterns for the area and beyond.  Stop by to check it out.  The demo starts at 10:00am

On Saturday March 31st, I will be at the Peak Fly SHop here in Colorado Springs.  It will be my first visit there, so I hope I see some new faces.  The demo starts at 10:00am.

After I finish all of these things, I think I am going to retire from fly tying.  That is after I finish all my donation fly boxes!

Stay tuned for more info and I'll see you guys soon!

Little Bugs

I was finally able to get out today and headed to Cheesman Canyon.  The fish were there and some of them were even eating!  Fishing the Canyon isn't always easy, especially in the winter when the bugs are super small.  It always amazes how watching fish and fishing to them in unconventional ways can result in a few hook-ups.  I won't get into it here, just that it worked better than nymphing!  Bugs of the day were #24 midges of various colors, nothing in particular.

Bugs of choice today

#28 or so

#24 Top Secret Midge

#24 Top Secret Midge

Furimsky's Fluttering Caddis Tying Video

As requested, here is the video for the Fluttering Foam Caddis.  You can change out the color of the pattern by changing out the color of the foam.  I spent around 3 years trying to figure out how to tie this in this style.  Give it a try and see what you think.  I think you will like it.

The KF Emerger

Krystal Flash Emerger
This is the second posting of this video.  I feel that this is such a good pattern, why not share it again.
My buddy Greg Faught ties this pattern and showed it to me several years ago.  It has it's roots on the San Juan River, but has been productive everywhere I have fished it.  Give it a try, as it is effective and easy to tie.

36th Annual Fly Tying Clinic, Denver, CO

West Denver Chapter of Trout Unlimited

36th Annual Fly Tying Clinic

                           

Saturday, February 11, 2012

9:00am to 3:00pm

Jefferson County Fairgrounds

http://www.westdenvertu.org/Fly-Tying-Clinic.html

This is a must-see fly tying event for all fly tiers.  There will be around 60 of the areas best tiers there and you can sit down and visit and ask questions while they crank out some of the best flies for the surrounding area.  Make sure to stop by and say hi to me.  I will have some Hopper Juan material kits available for sale as well as some hoppers if you choose not to tie them.  I will also have some Montana Fly Company thread to hand out as free samples.  

Make sure to attend this event.  See you there!  

Hardy Fly Rods

Recently, I was able to pick up a new Hardy Zenith fly rod.  This is the same rod that was hailed as the best 5 weight in the every once in a while "5 weight shootout" done by George Anderson.  While I have only fished it once, I cannot say with a definite answer that it is better than any of my beloved Scott fly rods or any of the other rods that are out there right now.  Give me a few more times with it and I can give a better opinion as far as the fishing goes.  As far as the casting goes, it is a great rod, no doubt about that.  Again, I cannot say it is better than any of the other high end rods I have now or have cast in the past.  What I can say is that it certainly feels good.  While it is a 4-piece, which is pretty much the industry standard, Hardy has now come out with new models of this rod.  While at the recent Fly Fishing Show, I was able to check them out.  They are 1 piece rods and they only come in 1 length, that I know of.  The length is 8' 10".  An 8'10" 1 piece rod is probably not going to be a popular rod, especially with the traveling fisherman.  But once I took the 4wt. to the casting pond, I was blown away!  On the water, whether you have a 7 piece or 1 piece rod, it is assembled and fished to be a 1 piece so if you can get over the idea of having to transport it, then all things will be equal.   This rod felt like no other rod I have cast before.  It was light and had some touch to it.  It felt great in my hand and I was able to hit all the spots I wanted to hit.  I wasn't trying to cast all 90' of line, but just any where from 15' to 40', as I would while fishing.  If I could, I would love to have one of these rods.  I would get the 4 wt. as that seems to be my favorite dry fly rod.  I know this rod could lay down a dry fly perfectly, I just don't know how it would do slinging lead.  I would assume that it would have no problem since it has a very powerful butt section.  The issue of having a 1 piece rod would limit your travel, but for me, I only fish around here so it's not a problem for me.  A 9' rod fits well in my car or if you happen to have a rod rack on the top of your fishing mobile, that wouldn't be a problem.  To me, a 1 piece rod makes sense.  It's only when you have to store or transport the thing when it becomes an issue.  But on the river, we all have a 1 piece rod!  I just might have to trade this 4 piece rod for a 1 piece rod.     

All tied up.

Here are a few of the patterns I have been tying over the winter.  Why tie flies for winter fishing when spring and summer are right around the corner?  Yep, that's what I thought too.   

Sample Foam X-Caddis 

Tan X-Caddis, one of my favorite to tie.   

Furmisky's Fluttering Caddis-Yellow Sally

Furmisky's Fluttering Caddis-Black

Puterbaugh's Foam Caddis

Furmisky's Fluttering Caddis-Tan

Dark Tan Elk Hair Caddis

Foam Caddis #14

Royal Gorgeous #16

Yellow Stimulator, tied with deer hair

Chartreuse Stimulator tied with Antron body and elk hair.  

All flies will be available at Ghillies Fly Shop